Selected Shorts

“Selected Shorts” is a series of literary readings held weekly usually in New York (Symphony Space) or Los Angeles (the Getty Center). These events consist of screen and stage actors reading classical and new fiction shorts before a live audience. The authors range from famous classics – Maupassant, Chekov, Hemingway, Brontë, Saki, Poe… – to no less famous modern writers — T.C. Boyle, David Sedaris, James Thurber, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, Kurt Vonnegut… At times some of the readers seem to represent “who-is-who” list of Hollywood, Broadway, and television — Paul Giamatti, Anjelica Huston, Stephen Colbert, Jane Curtin, John Lithgow… While other readers and writers are of less renown.

The readings began in 1985 and were hosted by Isaiah Sheffer. After Sheffer’s death in 2012, guest hosts lead the events. There is a consistent structure to each of the “Selected Shorts” readings. Each has a theme that deals with a particular topic (e.g. humor), writer (e.g. works of Edgar Allan Poe or Anton Chekov), or performer (e.g. Harvard Lampoon or Isaiah Sheffer). Several shorts are presented around each such theme.

PERSONAL NOTE:
I love the short story genre and am glad to seed these. Unfortunately, I do not have a seedbox or a superfast upstream connection. I would greatly appreciate your patience while downloading and only ask to, please, be kind to other fans of the short story genre by seeding as long as you can after the 72-hr. minimum.

For more of Selected Shorts, click on “Selected Shorts” tag next to the “Series” header (3rd line at the top of this page.)

I sincerely hope you enjoy the stories, the readers, and their readings.
// XM…

THIS UPLOAD INCLUDES:

12/03/2020
        RITES & RITUALS
GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS
“Cultural Relativity,” by Charles Johnson, performed by Regina King
“The Lazy River,” by Zadie Smith, performed by Zadie Smith
“The Hope Chest,” by Jean Stafford, performed by Dana Ivey
DESCRIPTION
Guest host David Sedaris offers three stories that question social rites. “Cultural Relativity” is Charles Johnson’s witty retelling of a classic fairy tale; it’s read by Regina King. Zadie Smith reads her own “Lazy River”—ostensibly about a failed holiday in Spain, but also a deft satire about Brexit, class, and exploitation. And the cantankerous spinster in Jean Stafford’s “The Hope Chest” has a Dickensian moment of grace. Dana Ivey is the reader.

12/10/2020
        RITES OF PASSAGE: STORIES FROM THE PARIS REVIEW
GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD
“How to Travel with Salmon,” by Umberto Eco, performed by Jin Ha
“Marabou,” by Joy Williams, performed by Michael Emerson
“The Twenty-sixth Second,” by George Fox, performed by Linda Lavin
“The Hat,” by Patrick Modiano, performed by Robert Sean Leonard
DESCRIPTION
Guest host Robert Sean Leonard presents stories from the legendary literary magazine The Paris Review. Umberto Eco has a really big fish in “How to Travel with a Salmon,” read by Jin Ha. A mother mourns her son with his difficult friends in “Marabou” by Joy Williams, read by Michael Emerson. In George Fox’s “The Twenty-Sixth Second” a WWII veteran has a secret. It’s read by Linda Lavin. And host Leonard finishes up with a story set on the day of the Nazi occupation of Paris, “The Hat,” by Patrick Modiano.

12/17/2020
        I DID IT MY WAY
GUEST HOST: KIRSTEN VANGSNESS
Excerpt from My Way of Life, by Joan Crawford, performed by Cole Escola
“Crazy They Call Me,” by Zadie Smith, performed by Karen Pittman
“Interview” by Will Eno, performed by Will Eno
“I Am Narcissus” by Elizabeth Olmstead, performed by Bebe Neuwirth
DESCRIPTION
Guest host Kirsten Vangsness presents four works about fame, celebrity, show biz, and what it takes to survive them. First, actor Cole Escola channels the legendary Joan Crawford in an excerpt from her autobiography, My Way of Life. Author Zadie Smith channels the dauntless spirit of Billie Holiday in “Crazy They Call Me,” performed by Karen Pittman. Will Eno’s “Interview” is a freewheeling monologue which offers both sides of an extensive and confessional outpouring performed by the author. And Bebe Neuwirth dances her way into our hearts playing a carefree child trapped in pretentious dance class in “I Am Narcissus,” by Elizabeth Olmstead.

12/24/2020
        HOLIDAY HURDLES
GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS
“Powder,” by Tobias Wolff, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
“Gifts of the Jewish Magi,” by Allegra Goodman, performed by Michael Cerveris and Dana Ivey
“Christmas in New York,” by Jeanette Winterson, performed by Richard Masur
DESCRIPTION
Guest host David Sedaris presents stories that reimagine holiday rituals. In Tobias Wolff’s “Powder,” a pre-Christmas snowstorm provides an adventure for a father and son. SELECTED SHORTS’ late host and founder Isaiah Sheffer is the reader. A long-established couple turn out to be able to surprise one another in Allegra Goodman’s gentle borrowing from an O. Henry classic. Dana Ivey and Michael Cerveris read her “Gifts of the Jewish Magi.” And David Sedaris says English writer Jeanette Winterson captures the city to a “T” in “Christmas in New York,” a modern fairy tale with just a hint of magic, performed by Richard Masur.

12/31/2020
       RITUALS
GUEST HOST: HOPE DAVIS
“The Luncheon,” by Jeffrey Archer, performed by Jefferson Mays
“Love Is Not a Pie,” by Amy Bloom, performed by Hope Davis
DESCRIPTION
Guest host Hope Davis presents two stories about rituals. A young author takes a glamorous older woman to lunch and all does not go well in “The Luncheon” by Jeffrey Archer, performed by Jefferson Mays. And host Davis performs Amy Bloom’s touching story “Love Is Not a Pie,” in which family secrets, and family bonds, are shared after a funeral.

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